Far-right figure Tommy Robinson arrested for train station assault in UK

The 42-year-old was detained by the British Transport Police after disembarking from a flight from Portugal.

Police in the United Kingdom have arrested the anti-Muslim and anti-immigrant activist Tommy Robinson on suspicion of assault, following an attack last month at London’s St Pancras station.

The far-right campaigner, whose real name is Stephen Yaxley-Lennon, was arrested at about 6.30pm (17:30 GMT) on Monday evening at Luton airport, which is located north of the English capital.

Robinson had just landed there on a flight from the Portuguese city of Faro.

His detention comes a week on from the alleged assault at one of London’s main railway terminals.

“The man had been wanted for questioning after leaving the country to Tenerife in the early hours of 29 July following the incident at St Pancras,” the British Transport Police (BTP) said on Monday evening.

He will now be questioned in custody “on suspicion of… grievous bodily harm”, the BTP added.

Although the statement did not directly name Robinson, he was shown in a video of the incident that was widely circulated online.

In the footage, the former founder of the far-right English Defence League is seen walking near a motionless man, claiming to have acted in self-defence.

The other man was taken to hospital with serious injuries, which the police said were “not thought to be life threatening”.

Robinson has numerous convictions for public order and contempt offences.

In May, he was released from a prison in Buckinghamshire four months early, after the high court cut his 18-month sentence.

He was imprisoned in October 2024 for contempt of court after admitting that he had flouted an injunction that prevented him from repeating false claims about a Syrian schoolboy.

The injunction came into force after the far-right activist lost a libel case against Jamal Hijazi, a Syrian refugee whom Robinson was judged to have defamed.

Robinson has been described by the advocacy group Hope Not Hate as “the UK’s most notorious far-right extremist”.

Earlier this year, tech billionaire and former adviser to United States President Donald Trump, Elon Musk called for Robinson to be freed from a UK prison where he was held at the time, and where he is likely to be returning after his latest arrest.